Rebnia
by Lizzy Brinner
Summary: The horrible WWIII has finally ended. But a punishment has been put on the losing countries: dissolution. After many debates over the other all the new land to annex, all that was left was the land of America. England and France of the Allied Union begin to argue over the little boy to call their little brother. But it seems that the boy is already being taken care of by another.
1. Dedication!

Hey guys! It's me the author! I finally got around to starting this story! I'm going to do my best! It's my first story I'm posting on Fanfiction so it might not be as good as you think. (Like I said, I'm new.) I like reviews. They remind me to write more and inspire me for new ideas. This is what I call my "dedication" chapter. I put the quotes because it's some dedication and author notes. Mostly author notes. ANYWAY, I'll just get to the point now.

Warnings: Swearing, kinda UsUk ship and idk what other ships I'll add. We'll see.

Dedication: Everyone who like Hetalia!

Updates: Most likely two weeks or so unless I feel super motivated or something happens in my life. I try to make my chapters long so it'll make up for the days missed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia for nothing!

Other stuff: I have some OCs in this and some characters might be OOC to fit the moment of how I would see it, I don't have any premade chapters but I know the story line so no writer's block hopefully.

Summary: The horrible and treacherous WWIII has finally ended. But a harsh punishment has been put on the losing countries: dissolution. After many debates over the other all the new land to annex, all that was left was the reborn land of America. England and France of the Allied Union begin to argue over the little boy to call their little brother. But it seems that the new country is already being taken care of by someone else.

I think that's it! Okay, let's start!


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing I notice is the sound of laughter and celebration. I opened my eyes slowly. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I found myself sitting at a long, polished table. I quickly raised my head from where it rested to see a wall baring a tall shelf filled with bottles, each one filled with various colored liquids. I turned my head away from the shelf toward the commotion behind me. I gasped as I looked at the huge sea of people drinking from their mugs. I didn't even know this many people could fit in one little room; It was amazing. Many of them were obviously drunk, stumbling around and splashing their beverage all over the floor. The walls were colored a bright orange that stung my eyes. In the corner was a huge flat screen TV that flashed images of _more_ celebration but, over all that racket, I could faintly hear the tune of God save the Queen resonating from the speakers. Directly behind me from where I sat was the exit door and a couple of grid windows. Studying the window further, I saw that there were people celebrating outside as well. Not only on the sidewalk but in the streets; some were actually dancing in traffic! Looking at all this, I concluded that this must be a pub of some sort that has been getting a ludicrous amount of customers. But why was everyone celebrating? If this many people would come and get totally drunk, it must have been something huge.

"Hey England, you finally woke up, no?"

As soon as those words reached my ears, I tasted something bile in my mouth. I only know one person who could have the capability to do that. I turned my head slowly and, sure enough, there was the frog. He had the same blonde hair and the same old beard from years ago. The only thing different about him would be his clothes. He was wearing his county's military uniform. It was so bright just glancing at it made my eyes burn! I swear his uniforms are getting brighter and brighter over the years. Does he think it's some kind of fashion competition? I scowled as he sat next to me with a glass of wine in his hand. He crossed his legs as soon as he sat down. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought he was a woman.

"Why are you here and why is this place so crowded?" I demanded. It's already enough not knowing what's going on but now this guy's here.

"What a stupid question to ask! Everyone is celebrating the end of the war!"

I looked around a bit before responding. "Oh yeah, WWIII finally ended," Well, that explains the erratic behavior and drunks. I leaned back in my chair, looking up at the cracked, tile ceiling, remembering how treacherous it was. "Thank god."

"I have to agree with you there. What a pointless war," he sighed. I sat back up and stared over to a young gentleman passed out in a bar chair, his snores being drained out by the sounds of celebration and beer glasses clinking together. Suddenly, I thought: How did I get here? I don't even remember leaving the house. I thought over what I did earlier, biting my lip. Today I had some tea, did some paperwork, practiced some magic, and took a nap; that's it. Maybe I came here and didn't remember? No, that's too unlikely. Maybe someone brought me here? I stopped and stared over to the frog who was now chatting with the bartender. He'd do anything to piss me off. Maybe he…

"Hey frog." He stopped talking and looked over to me. My eyes narrowed. "How did I bloody get here? I sure as hell didn't come here myself."

"Oh yeah, I dragged you out and left you at the bar."

I jumped up from my seat. "You dragged me out of my home?!"

"Yeah, anyone could tell looking at you," he said. I was totally confused till he pointed toward my clothes. I looked down to see I was in my _pajamas_! Well, not really pajamas but more like those tourist clothes you get from gift shops or clothes you'd get out of donation boxes. The T-shirt was a _lot_ bigger than my real size. It was an ugly, puce green and across the front was the name Anguilla in big white letters which is actually a very nice place to visit. I should probably go pay a visit again sometime. My pants were the color of coal and practically covered my feet. These I actually bought at a garage sale. I was forced to after some git stole my pants while I was in the shower at a gym. Last time I'll ever go there. I was in such a rush to get something to wear that I didn't even notice it was filled with holes. But with the help of a nearby sewing kit, that I had to buy as well, I quickly sewed it up with my top-notch sewing skills if I do say so myself! (They're actually sewn terribly.)

Overall, I looked like a homeless man. I could feel my face heating up fast. I shouldn't be here dressed like this! People will think I have no decency! I watched the frog continue to drink his wine as my anger boiled. He doesn't even care does he?!

"Why didn't you just wake me up?"

"I tried to but you were knocked out cold. It just felt easier to drag you here."

I looked down at my feet that were barely peeking out from the cuffs my pants. "You could've at least brought some shoes for me."

"England, practically half of the people here are in their pajamas anyway." I looked around again to see that most of them were actually wearing their pajamas. I slapped my forehead, why didn't I notice that before? The frog laughed. "I guess everyone was so excited that they forgot to change into something more appropriate! It's pretty funny huh?"

I rolled my eyes and sat back down. "More like idiotic."

"Hey, don't forget you're in pajamas too."

"BECAUSE YOU DRAGGED ME HERE!"

France gave me a very serious and somewhat scary look. I instantly shut my trap. "Look England, I've been annoyed by your behavior lately so I thought if you came here, you would lighten up!" He barked back. "Everyone is celebrating the end of the war so shut up and try enjoying yourself instead of being the buzz kill!"

"What behavior?" At hearing this, France's scary expression melted away and he became still as stone. "I haven't even talked to you lately!"

He was dead silent for a long time. My eyebrows furrowed as he cleared his throat. He stuttered over his words so much, I could hardly understand him. "Well, um, it's about how you talk to yourself all the time. It's really creeping me out!"

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" I stumbled over my words. I haven't done anything like that lately, not that I know of. Thinking about it made chills go down my back and my hands tremble.

"You keep saying things to the air as though someone or something's there and talk for hours! It was really weird. I started to think you were so lonely, you began to hallucinate and that's why I brought you here. "

What? This frog must be the one hallucinating! That is totally ridiculous. As I opened my mouth to yell back what I thought, realization dawned on me. There was that one time I talked to mint bunny in the yard for a really long time. I know for a fact that France cannot see him so maybe that's what he meant. I was relieved. I thought for a minute I went insane but it was soon dominated by rage. He got us worried over nothing because of his lack of good eyesight and he totally spied on me! Well, I expect him to spy on me; after all, he's done it to various other people. I better set up a security system. I rolled my eyes. This has happened so many times and whenever I tried to explain it to him, he wouldn't understand or wouldn't believe me. I'm not going to explain it all over again just so he could say, that is the worst excuse I ever heard!

"You're such an idiot," I said.

"What?"

An awkward silence filled the air; the conversation was over.

I stared around at all the people drinking and laughing while I wasn't. My mouth salivated as I watched then gulp down that delightful drink. I could almost imagine that burning sensation in my throat, that taste in my mouth, that bubbly feeling after drinking it. Too bad I couldn't experience it. That damn frog couldn't even grab my wallet before he dragged me out and I'm sure as hell not going to ask him for money. I'm not going to risk putting it on my tab. I sighed as my thirst scratched at my throat. I guess I'm not going to drink today.

After a while of sulking at the bar, France took the last sip from his wine and set it down on the table. He looked disappointed and just stared at his empty glass. Seeing this, I became puzzled: why isn't he drinking anymore? He loves wine more than the next guy.

"Hey, aren't you going to get some more wine?"

"I don't have a ride so I need to drive home myself. I can't afford to get a ticket right now so I'm going to need to be careful about how much I drink. You wouldn't believe how hard it is!" He whined, looking like a kicked puppy. "Of all the days to be sober it had to be the day all drinks are on the house! I just hope I can keep myself together."

When I heard that, my eyes widened. All I could think of now was what he said. All drinks! How lucky was I? The excitement was overwhelming. Right when I was about to order something, I looked over to the frog who was licking every last drop of wine from the glass, like how a homeless man licks all the food off his plate. I smirked as I asked the bartender. "Hey, can you pour me some wine?" France gave me a puzzled look when I said it. The bartender poured the blood red drink into an empty glass and slid it down the table. I grabbed the glass just before it slid off the edge and drank, each swallow burning my throat. I grimaced as my taste buds finally realized how awful it was. But when I finished, I called the bartender and he refilled it once again.

"Why are you drinking wine?" said France annoyingly.

"You seem to like it so much so I thought I'd try it." Oh my god it tasted terrible! I wanted to puke it was so bad but it was all for revenge and sometimes you need to make sacrifices. France flashed me a suspicious glare but I could see that he was dying for a sip on the inside, just by looking into those pitiful eyes of his. I chuckled to myself. This is going to be fun.

"How many cats do you need to screw a light bulb?" I asked. I was talking with a couple of guys at one of the tables. They shrugged. "None, because you don't need cats to screw a light bulb!" I begin laughing hysterically. The two guys just sigh and leave me there at the table alone like some loser. I stopped laughing. Why didn't they think it was funny? It's true that you don't need any cats to screw a light bulb!

I turned around and kneeled on my seat, both of my hands clenched onto the back of the chair. "Fine, I'll tell my wonderful jokes to people who actually have a sense of humor! Screw you! Ha, get it?" I exclaim as I clumsily collapse into my chair, laughing to myself. I looked around the room. Everything was spinning. Spinning. Round and round till my eyes blurred.

Ugh, stop spinning already; I'm dizzy enough! When my eyes finally focused, I looked to my right to see France returning from where ever he went. He took the seat next to me.

"How are you? Not being a bastard yet?" He said, smirking.

I gave him the best death glare I could but I ended up laughing. What? He just reminded me of a stupid old goat I saw a while back! His face was totally puckered and deformed; you try not to laugh at that! When I stopped laughing, I responded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm drunk."

"Already? It's only been a half hour!" I began to laugh again. Oh my god his reaction was hilarious! "Stop laughing, you drunk!"

"Well excuse me for enjoying myself! But wait, you said you wanted me to," I said sarcastically.

France rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up."

I reached down toward my glass that was about half full of wine and drank, leaving a little left. France watched as if he'd die if he looked away.

Now's the time.

I let out a satisfied sigh and licked my lips. "Wow that was so good! I see why you like it so much!" France looked as though he was about to cry. It wasn't enough. I needed to push him further. I began waving the glass in front of his face. The wine swished around in the glass and France's eyes followed with it. "Hey, don't you want some?"

His voice cracked when he answered. "Can't you remember anything? I need to be sober today." Damn it. Just give up already before I vomit from this putrid drink, you frog!

"Oh, that's right! I better drink the rest." As I drank the rest of it, France's eye began to twitch. I placed the wine glass down and stared over to him. He was a wreck. Any minute now… Suddenly, he stood up and angrily yelled, "Damn it, I can't take this!"

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Ha! I got him! I win!

"Just please stop drinking that in front of me! I can't take it!"

I laughed so hard while France just stared at me, totally lost. "You don't get it? I drank wine to make you jealous."

France looked as though he was slapped in the face. "You did this purposely? I didn't think you'd stoop that low!"

"It totally serves you right after dragging me here and spying on me in my own yard! Oh and by the way, wine is the worst thing I've ever tasted!"

That's when France began to strangle me very violently. "You drunk bastard, I'm going to kill you!"

"Geez frog, can't you take a bloody joke? Get off of me!" I choked out as I tried to pull his hands off my neck.

After some guys pulled us apart and a long speech about how great wine is that just ended in argument, we talked about the war. "Can you believe it? After so many years of fighting, the Allied Union prevailed!"

I looked over to him as a smile crossed my face. "Yeah, they were total idiots for going against us. We showed those Quintuple powers!" I thought their name was terrible. It doesn't really have a good ring to it. Plus, doesn't quin mean four? They had many other allies then just them! I reached for my newly refilled glass of _ale_ that was still sitting on the table. I was so thankful to be drinking ale again. Good old ale!

"Ha, yeah. But don't you feel guilty?"

I grabbed my drink. "What do you mean?"

"When we ended the war and signed that treaty, didn't you feel guilty for signing such a thing?"

"Of course not! We're countries; we cannot let petty feelings get in our way!" France looked at me intently. After a while, it started to creep me out. "Why are you still staring at me? You like me or something?" I gave him a drunken smile and he backed away a bit.

"Mon Dieu no!" France finally averted his eyes and continued. Sometimes he can act really strange. "We signed a treaty to dissolve all those countries when we could've talked it out. They're all gone because we signed it. I lost mon innocent Canada because of that treaty."

France's expression was strained. "Who?"

Well, that totally set off France. "Canada! The country you took from me! The one everyone seems to forget!"

His face was red from yelling so loud but nobody around us really noticed. They were too busy soaking in the victory of a long battle. Has he always been this attached to um… damn it, I already forgot his name. Well whatever his name was, I don't remember France being so attached to him before. He usually forgot his name and who he was too. Did something happen between them during the war? His eyes were full of rage and hurt. So much hurt that I began to regret signing the treaty. For a small, itty bitty moment, I felt truly bad for him.

Wow, I really must be really drunk.

"Alright, I remember now. Calm down alright?" France sat down. I looked at him and took another sip of my drink. "It's not like we had a choice. Our bosses nowadays are complete wankers and never take our advice anymore. During the war when some of our people were being held captive, I advised him to think it out first and he does just the opposite! Sure we freed them, but only fifty of the two thousand people escaped. That stupid ass killed more than he could save."

He sighed. "You're right. It's like they're discriminating us or something. Remember long ago when our bosses treated us nicely and everyone knew about us? It was so peaceful but it seems like they've all forgotten about who and what we are. But, I still think we could've done something."

"Stop dwelling on the past, old man. Nobody could have done anything to prevent it."

The sound of shattering glass and swears boomed throughout the pub. We both turned our heads toward the noise. It was two guys fighting on top of the bar, knocking over beer glasses and making blows at each other. The once sparkling bar table they stood upon was covering in the dirt and mud from their shoes. This time it caught everyone's attention. They cheered for one or the other as their faces turned black and blue.

When they were pulled apart seconds later and everyone calmed down, I began to get really bored. France was just moping now ever since we had that conversation earlier. I pondered over what to do now.

I asked France. "Hey, it's getting kind of bleak in here. You want to join me in a song?" For the record, I would never sing with the frog. I was intoxicated and terribly bored. Those are my reasons.

"You really are drunk."

"C'mon Frenchie, what else are we going to do? Besides, it's a celebration; it's okay to do stupid stuff! All is forgiven when you're drunk!"

"I'm not drunk and I won't be drunk anytime soon as much as I want to." I sighed. I could tell he wasn't going to join in so I decided to sing solo. But he didn't seem too bothered for he soon ran off to a table where a couple of pretty girls were sitting. Perverted frog. I got up and stood on the little table, grabbing a nearby empty mug and singing into it. My voice was slurred and somewhat muffled because of the mug but who cares? I'll sing whatever a bloody want! Eventually, a few of the other drunks joined in with me. I got backup singers. I'm just so cool.

I sang London Bridge for hours with my new drunk buddies. We stumbled, fell, and sang our hearts out and it was great. Really great.

Soon enough, it was time to leave. This time, I was totally drunk off my arse; I could hardly even see what was in front of me. My new drunk buddies were really persistent and really liked playing drinks. It was fun but I think I killed half of my brain cells in the process. As I stumbled out, my bare feet touched the cold concrete. I shivered at the sudden shock. God that was cold! I could hardly take a step now because I didn't want to feel the millions of cold needles pierce my foot again. Damn frog, it's his fault! As I waved goodbye to my new drinking buddies, I saw France leading a couple of girls, the same two girls from before, into his car. How expected.

I made a face at him as he closed the door of his unbelievably attractive car. "Hey England, I got a couple of girls in my car. You want one? One is totally drunk so she won't notice how ugly you are. "

How dare he make fun of my butler abilities! I better tell him off! "Shut it, you frog! I'm a way better butler than you'll ever be!" That'll piss off the frog.

He just laughs at my insult. Why is he laughing? I'm trying to tell him off and he's laughing? How rude! "How much did you drink?"

He actually has the nerve to tell me that? How dirty can he get? "It's none of your bloody business and keep your stupid old Eiffel tower! That's disgusting!"

"Whatever you say. Well, I'll be leaving now. You want a ride?" He gestured toward his car. I hate to admit it but it was the most attractive car I've ever seen. It sparkled in the moonlight and was painted shiny silver. The windows were more transparent than air itself and oh my god I could marry it. But I should never judge by only looks; I need to take it slow. For all I know, she might like the frog but I'd kill him first before that happens.

"No, I can walk home myself and your car probably smells like crap." I hope his car didn't take that literally. But who cares, I can walk home myself! I began to walk down the street but turned back. "Why are you still looking at me?"

"Huh? Oh, no reason. See you at the meeting tomorrow!" He waved goodbye, entered the car, and drove off. Damn, it was an attractive car. I should ask her out sometime.

I stumbled down the dimly lit street toward my house. It was such a hassle just trying to take one step. The fact that I didn't have shoes wasn't helping and the fact that I just stepped on some glass wasn't either. Wait, glass? A huge pain shot through my foot.

"OW!" I exclaimed. I swore under my breath till I finally reached my house. You may expect that I'd have the most magnificent house because I'm a country but like I said earlier, our bosses are total wankers nowadays. A long time before, something happened and everyone began to forget about us and our bosses looked at us like we were aliens, freaks and began discriminated us, ignoring us. Now, we need to get another job to pay for our new houses. Two jobs are hard especially if one is being a country. You don't even get paid or anything for being a country now which really pisses me off. We used to get everything free from our jobs as countries but nope, not anymore! When I found the right key, I opened the door and tripped over something, falling flat on my face. It's like the world doesn't want me to hurt me! I swore once again and got up, rubbing my forehead tenderly. What did I trip over? I looked behind me and on the ground was a single empty can of beer. I picked it up and put it outside the door. I'll throw it out tomorrow.

I closed the door behind me and a blanket of darkness covered everything. All the rooms were pitch black but I decided not to turn the lights on; I'd have to go back to turn it off and I was _not_ in the mood to do that. Not after stumbling the streets in homeless man clothes. I groped around in the dark till I felt a railing. It was the staircase. Ah, stairs: the biggest everyday obstacle for the average drunk man. I awkwardly tried to climb the stairs while holding onto the railing for dear life. I instantly bumped into the wall.

After many failed attempts at climbing the stairs, I finally reached my destination, bruised and weary. I carefully stumbled through my room and flopped onto my bed. As cold as I was, I didn't try to get under the covers. I just didn't care. I was finally home without a French guy around to drag me out. Right when I finally closed my eyes, I realized how big of a hangover I'm going to have tomorrow. It's still worth it. It's not like anything is going on tomorrow! Suddenly, I thought back to what France said.

_See you at the meeting tomorrow!_

Crap.


	3. Chapter 3

I opened my eyes to see the sun peeking out from over the horizon and the few birds that haven't flown south for the winter chirp their little tunes. I really can't understand why they haven't all left yet. We've been getting a lot of cold weather lately. If I was a bird, I would have left a while ago.

I turned my head over to the clock on the nightstand beside me. It read 6:38AM. Well that's strange. I usually wake up a lot later than that. The sun's rays began to bother me. A lot. I raised my blanket over my head and tried to get some more sleep. Then as soon as I reclosed my eyes, the birds' cute tunes from outside the window became as loud as thunder and the sun's morning rays burned through the blankets, even though I was totally enveloped in it. Then a huge headache set in. Damn it, it hurt! It felt as though a hammer was nailing nails into all sides of my head simultaneously. I wanted it to stop but it only grew more excruciating! I actually began to shiver from the goddamn painful headache.

I could hear everything: The wind blowing outside, the creaks in the floor, my own heartbeat. You'd expect that to be a good thing because you could detect a mugger behind you and prevent it or you could overhear conversations better or whatever. But this… this was just hell. All the sounds echoed through my lead heavy head, adding more hammered nails to my head. Why is this happening?! Then I thought back to yesterday. I remembered that I drank practically half my weight in ale, half of that being wine. I shuddered remembering that disgusting drink. I'll never drink that again. So basically, I'm experiencing another hangover.

That's great.

But I don't remember having such a severe hangover before. I mean, sure the lights and sounds will make my head hurt like hell but not this much. As much as I hate to admit it, I should've controlled myself like the frog. Maybe then I wouldn't be wrapped up in a blanket cocoon as the sun tries to melt my brain away. But who could resist all drinks on the house for a day?! I mean, it's a man's dream. Well, one of _my_ dreams. I pulled my pillow over my head as the birds continued to have their rock concert. I really wish they would leave already.

I don't know how long I lay there but all I know is that I couldn't get any sleep no matter how tired I felt. Plus, I tucked into a ball underneath the covers, still feeling that pounding in my head. I also developed some other hangover symptoms like a terrible stomachache and nausea.

Then, I realized how pathetic I must look right now and that it's just a hangover. I've dealt with them many times in the past and I'm actually on a non-puking streak for quite a while now, totally proud of it as well. I'm Great Britain! I can't let something so stupid keep me in bed all day! I'm also kind of thirsty too…

I threw off the blankets, full of confidence, to get totally covered with rays from the sun, now out from hiding behind the horizon.

I was expecting the sun to be blocked out by clouds like it usually is this time of year, but it wasn't. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky and so it made the pain even harder to bear then I expected. The hammers turned into chainsaws as I continued to stare into the naked light. Before I could pass out, I snatched my blanket and pulled it over my head once again. My headache lessened but I could feel those hammers still nailing away. Just like that, all my confidence turned into hopelessness. Maybe it'll just be better to stay under these covers for today…

"ENGLAND!"

The loud, high pitched voice rang through my head and shook the room.

"ENGLAND, GET UP!"

I sat up with the blanket wrapped around my head and my annoyance and anger rising. Who can possibly be so loud when I'm feeling this way?! I angrily looked around for the source, preparing to beat the hell out of them if possible. Then something green with wings and long ears flew into the room who I soon confirmed to be Mint Bunny. My need to beat up the inconsiderately loud person, or in this case bunny, died down. I could never hurt Mint Bunny for anything. Mint Bunny's too cute. Instead I let out a long sigh and asked calmly, "Could you please keep it down? I have a horrible hangover."

"Why?"

"Because I drank way too much yesterday. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be underneath my covers-"

"But you can't!"

Mint Bunny's voice hammered in another nail deep into my head. I would've yelled at him but I realized it was Mint Bunny. I still can't do it. I wrapped the blanket tighter around my head and began to shake from the pain. "A-And why not?"

"You need to go to a meeting today, don't you?"

"A meeting?" That sounds a little familiar...

_See you at the meeting tomorrow!_

Oh no.

"When does it start?" I asked, worried about what Mint Bunny would say.

"In three hours."

"A three hours?! Why didn't you tell me before?!" This isn't good. The Meeting Hall is located in that bloody frog's home across the English Channel in some city called Amiens. According to Google maps, it'll take four hours to reach there by car! Not to mention rush hour was quickly approaching. This is too much stress to handle when it's so early and I'm so hung-over. Without thinking, I threw off the covers and jumped out of bed only to be greeted by the evil sun, now shooting light bullets through my head as everything began to fade to white.

Mint Bunny closed the shades and I found myself on the floor. "Woah," I said a little dazed. "I swear I just saw a beautiful field of flowers."

Mint Bunny cutely laughed at what I said even though I was totally serious. "I'll get you some water."

After taking some painkillers, a few sickening visits to the bathroom, and some swigs of water, I quickly turned on the BBC news as I put on my suit and tie. Apparently, everyone throughout England is suffering from hangovers. The news anchor says that a majority of the population went to celebrate the end of the war and got too carried away. It wasn't only here either; it was pretty much all over the place. They've been jokingly calling it the World's Biggest Hangover and began to crack many more bad jokes about it. There were even some comics about it in the newspaper! That could explain for my largely more vicious hangover. I wonder if the other countries are feeling as miserable as me? France didn't even drink all that much but his home loves wine a lot. I giggled to myself, imagining the pain he must be in even though he didn't drink. I bet they're all in so much pain right now that they're arriving there late as well. I can only hope for that.

Mint Bunny helped me a lot by closing the curtains. He's such a good bunny. I turned off the TV and noticed something was wrong with my house. It felt as though something was off. Now that I think about it, it smells terrible in here.

After a bit of scanning the room, I noticed that my house was a total mess.

There were beer cans all over the floor, dishes piling up in the sink, my laundry spread all over the place and flies buzzing everywhere. There were even cans on the stairs! No wonder I got so many bruises from climbing those wretched steps last night. I was appalled at the sight. I went upstairs, the bathroom, and the kitchen and it was all the same. There were empty cans IN MY FRIDGE! Why would someone put empty cans in the fridge?! I took a quick peak out at my backyard to see it was totally fine. I sighed in relief. At least the backyard is okay.

But seriously, how disgusting! Why is my house like this? I don't remember my house being this filthy and I would never allow it to be! So why-! Then I noticed a note barely peeking out from under all the flour and other things I don't want to mention, on the kitchen table. I dug it out, dusted it off and looked on both the front and back side to only find the words, _For boss_. I opened the letter to see a cute little picture of a maid looking very, very apologetic and the words, _Sorry for the mess! I'll be sure to clean it up when I come back from my vacation._

Suspicion rose within me as I read the note over and over. My eye twitched with annoyance. She didn't tell me about a vacation and there is a mess I am unaware of. It's pretty easy to tell she had a party here yesterday while I was gone. I crumbled the paper in my hands. I knew it. I should've never trusted this maid! She's only a young adult and doesn't know boundaries! Sure I could forgive her for that one party that she threw because her relative made it through a life threatening surgery which I really couldn't get mad at her for, but this is totally different. This is just plain taking advantage of someone's kindness! Plus, she never told me about this sudden vacation! It's probably so she can buy time for me to calm down. Well, I'm not going to forget _this _anytime soon. Oh, she's going to get it when she gets back…

"Hey, are you okay England? You look angry."

Mint Bunny was on my shoulder staring first at the crumpled note then at me with that cute little face of his. I could just hug him he was so cute. "I'm fine. It's just that I found out who made this huge mess."

"What mess?"

"Um… the mess. The mess all over the house."

Mint Bunny looked around a bit and gasped. "Oh gosh, what happened?!"

I just stared at the flabbergasted bunny blankly. I never knew that Mint Bunny was so absent-minded. Well, it kind of took a while for me to notice too. Then I looked down at my watch and practically choked on my own shock if that's even possible. I quickly fixed my tie. "I really need to go! I'll be back at the usual time."

Mint Bunny snapped out of the stupor and smiled at me, waving his little arm. "Okay, bye England!"

I closed the door behind me and ran to my car before the direct sunlight could make me feel any worse than I already was. I hope they don't notice how hung-over I am. They probably feel as crappy as me so hopefully, they won't notice and hopefully, they won't get too angry at me for being so late.

The only good privilege that was bestowed to people like us was that we got to travel to other places for free. I didn't have to pay for anything because all of us have special ID's and passports that allowed us to go in and out of tolls, fly airplanes, and get across the Channel for free. That's the only good thing that comes out of our duty these days and thanks to this, I got to the Meeting Hall successfully.

Too bad my ID couldn't get me there faster or at least turn back time.

I arrived there two hours late. Yes, two hours late. As soon as I saw the building in my sights, I parked my car in the nearest spot, not caring to check for any 'No Parking' signs or whatnot. I dashed into the big, beautifully made building, past the beautifully made hallway, looked at the beautifully made signs for where we were meeting, and up to the beautifully made door where a beautifully made sign was pinned up on the door and written in cursive on it were the words 'Meeting in Progress'.

I could explain the whole beautifully made building in a whole bunch of details and literature terms if I wanted to, for I had a great way with words, but I couldn't really soak it all in after dashing in and up to the meeting room. But the hallway I am standing in is covered with a long red carpet that stretches out to no end and the walls had small lamps across from all the doors, each the color of gold and sparkling from their own light. Everything was well maintained and not a single speck of dust could be seen on anything.

I had to admit, the frog really knows how to maintain and decorate a place. It was good but not as good as _my_ buildings because, of course, us English are all about cleanliness and keeping things up-to-date! I shook my head after realizing how long I'd been just standing here. This is no time to think about that and no time to be describing things! I need to enter the room and calm all the chaos that must be happening because I'm not there.

I closed my fist and was prepared to knock but something held me back. Not physically though. I think it was the feeling of embarrassment. The kind you feel when you're late for school and everyone looks at you coming in and the teacher gives you a disappointed sigh and asks for your tardy slip. That kind of embarrassment.

But this isn't school. This is a meeting.

It's not like I can get fired from being a country but still the embarrassment of entering two hours late can hurt one's reputation. I also bet the frog will get a kick out of this as well.

Damn it, I'm doing it again.

I took a deep breath. It's not like the world will end. I raised my fist up to the polished wood and knocked on the door a couple of times. There were sounds of cheer from behind the door and then a shadow came from under the door and it opened.

The frog smiled happily and said, "It's about time you came! Now where's that pizza-" The frog then looked me over and let out a disgruntled grunt. "Oh, it's only you." He turned back, still holding the door open halfway. "It's just England."

Disappointed sighs you'd hear a child make when they don't get what they want came from the room. I felt anger boil up in me even though it was my own fault for being late. "Why are you all so disappointed?"

France stared at me disappointingly. "We thought you were the pizza guy we called."

I was expecting everyone, especially him, to insult me and joke about me being so late and yet everyone was getting disappointed over a pizza guy, not over my lateness. I honestly wanted to be yelled at for arriving so late. I did deserve it after all. "A pizza guy?!"

"Well you look like one but I doubt you have any pizza. Great, we gain a nuisance and no food…"

"I thought you were so disappointed because I came so late!"

France furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about? The meeting starts in about ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?! But I thought it started two hours ago."

France rolled his eyes as though I didn't know anything. "That's when the building opens."

Relief came over me at hearing that. I'm not late and my reputation is okay but the know-it-all attitude he was portraying was really annoying me. Plus, I got worried for no reason at all and I just felt down right stupid for my mistake. So, I began to defend myself. "W-Well, I'm sorry if I can't distinguish the meeting time with the opening time! It's a common mistake and there's no need for that little attitude of yours-!"

"Alright I get it. Just come in already."

France left the doorway and I entered the room. It was an average sized meeting room. Windows were lined against the northern wall and the curtains on each of those windows were made of velvet. Every major contributor to the Allied Union during WWIII was there: Spain, Russia, China, Germany, who finally decided to attend, France, and, of course, myself. They were all seated in expensive looking chairs at a big round table, casually talking amongst themselves as I took the only empty seat which was next to the frog, unfortunately. I looked over to Spain who was at the head of the table, his papers tucked into a little pile in front of him. Strangely enough, Spain was the biggest help in the Allied Union. I'm serious. He made up most of the battle plans alongside Germany, he knew when the Quintuples tried to invade, his soldiers were widely involved. He became so powerful so fast, it seems as though he's been hiding his true strength all along, waiting for the perfect time to show his true colours and take control. But that is just a rumor I heard and rumors are never really true. Looking back after so many years, I had to admit, some of us changed a lot over the years not really appearance wise but in our growth.

I would've never believed that Italy could be so strong way back then. Italy, apparently, right before the war created a new firearm. It was so deadly, most of his army was filled with over confidence and didn't cower away from any fights. We were almost done for except we had Spain there to help out. Still amazes me how Spain got so powerful. I believe he's becoming a world power too.

France got more cowardly than before but at least this time he didn't give up at the beginning, Japan used advanced technology during warfare like robots, America failed to live up to his title as a world power and went into terrible poverty, everyone has changed and done many different actions. I don't believe I changed all that much though.

My head was feeling a little better due to the painkillers I had but my stomach continued to churn. I still felt really bad but not as bad as this morning. I was on the road to recovery. The putrid road to recovery. I let out a sigh, wanting to sleep but knowing it'll never happen. I'm never drinking again. Ever.

"You're really hung over aren't you?" France said, nonchalantly. I turned to him.

"Is it that obvious?"

"It's more obvious than those fat caterpillars you call eyebrows."

You would've expected me to slap him across the face but I honestly couldn't bring myself to hit him. Too much effort. "Oh shut up. I bet you're feeling a little under the weather as well. I saw the news."

"Ha, yeah right. I think things through first." He said, wearing his 'big brother' face which is basically a bad attempt to look responsible.

"I see the bags under your eyes. I guessing you drank when you got home, didn't you?" That wiped that stupid expression off his face. "From the looks of you, you probably feel as bad as I do." I patted his back. "You can't hide anything from me."

France pouted. "Well, I'm sorry for trying to make you feel better."

"How is hiding your hangover supposed to make me feel better?!" I yelled. "It doesn't make sense!"

"Shut up! I'm not in the mood to fight you now so just calm down!"

I stood up from my seat. "Stop trying to act like the mature one here when you're obviously not, you frog! You've been provoking me all day long now!"

The frog got up as well and began yelling back. "What else am I supposed to do to ignore this splitting headache?!"

"Frog!"

"Black sheep of Europe!"

"Wine-lover!"

"Rosbif!"

"SHUT UP!" The room went deadly silent. We stopped yelling and glaring angrily at each other to see China's nostrils flaring at us. He was wearing a red long, sleeved shirt thing that covered his hands. I forgot what they call it. A couple of forms from his little pile of papers fell gracefully to the ground. "Everyone here is in a lot of pain from last night I'm pretty sure, myself included!" He crossed his arms. "Loud arguments and noise is the_ last_ thing anyone wants aru! So sit down, shut up and stop trying to kill each other for once!"

We immediately sat back down in our seats, both of us shocked. I've always known China was capable of complaining like that; actually it was a regular thing. What really surprised me was…

"Hey Frog, what was that all about?" I whispered. Everyone returned to their usual chatter.

"I know. I swear that Germany would've stopped us from arguing." We both stared over to Germany who was staring blankly out the window while Spain talked to him. What's wrong with him? First, he doesn't appear at the celebration party we had, then he doesn't appear at the last meeting, which wouldn't have really mattered because it failed miserably, and now he has come back only to be acting like a totally different person. He doesn't even look intimidating anymore. His eyes look so distant. Did he get possessed by an angel or something? Plus, he has a drinking problem that could rival mine so he must be feeling way worse than I am. I'm surprised he kept his cool the whole time.

France began biting his nails and said, "This is really creeping me out. He's been acting weird like this for weeks now. Do you think he was brainwashed or something?"

"Don't be stupid!" I responded, bitterly. "He could never get brainwashed, could he?"

"Alright, everyone! You've been waiting a long time for this!" Everyone ceased their side conversations to Spain who was standing with a piece of chalk in hand and a chalkboard behind him. I don't recall that being there before. When did that get there? "Our final Union meeting and the meeting where we decide what to do with all the land we received from the war!"

Spain smiled like he usually did and began to write on the chalk board. "As you recall, our last meeting was interrupted by a churro break which I'm really sorry for." I sighed. I don't even want to remember what a failure that meeting was. "But now I'm too nauseous to eat anything really so I promise you it will not happen this time. Anyway, let's do a little recap. Add anything you want to say, okay?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and China raised his hand and spoke, "If you're not hungry, why did you order pizza aru?."

"Oh, I thought everyone else would be hungry! It's never really good to start a meeting without a full stomach!" Spain laughed but nobody joined in. He smiled nervously and looked at all of us. "Is anyone hungry?"

Total silence. I wouldn't expect anyone to be hungry if everyone was puking their guts out earlier. The Spaniard laughed nervously. "Well, there goes my 10 euros."

Everyone sighed disapprovingly and Spain continued, his ego stabbed to death by the amount of disappointment lingering in the air. His smile wavered a bit. "Anyway, let's get back on topic! Now," Spain quickly drew a crude shape that I can't really describe beyond that. "As you recall, we had an oil shortage and everyone was closing off oil trade to save it for their own homes. America, as you recall, got most of his oil from up north from um…" Germany whispered something to him. "Canada, whoever that is. But ever since Canada's biggest oil well dried up, America," he pointed toward the shape. Oh, so it was America. "imported about 70% of his oil and America soon exploded into chaos after everyone closed off ports! But, I mean, who wouldn't right? No oil is really scary. Not as scary as no food though. Without food, you could starve to death. I can't imagine having no churros."

He continued to drift off while I rested my head on my hand. This always happens at meetings. Spain loved to go off topic; probably because of his apparent stage fright. Once, during a meeting about how to counter attack the Quintuples, he rambled on and on about a movie he saw and that swearing guy. I think he called him Romano. "Get back on topic, Spain," I said, unable to handle anymore side chatter. I just wanted to finish this meeting and get home and sleep all day. I could feel my pain killers wearing off.

"Huh? Oh yeah, right! Sorry." Another nervous smile. "Well, like I said, America was in chaos and the world conference hall was long deserted so they couldn't ask for help. Desperate for a way to attain oil, they declared war for oil!" He erased the America and replaced it with a couple stick figures, one with a cowlick sticking out of his head, that I'm pretty sure was America's Nantucket he loved to brag about and the other with two thick lines on its face. I really didn't get what that was though but I liked his style. He can't draw very well so he makes stick figures with distinguishing features though he's only drawn the enemies so I don't know what our distinguishing features are to Spain. A smile crossed my face thinking of what he would make France look. Spain pointed toward the one with the thing on its head. "America declared war on England over here for he had lots of oil!"

I could hear a few people giggling in the room. I could also feel my face flushing a bit and my anger rising. How nice of you, Spain. Give me the bushy eyebrows, will you? _That's_ my distinguishing feature. HAHAHAHA, so fucking funny. I covered my face with my hands to hide all the embarrassment on my face. Sometimes Spain can be really clueless.

I think that might be part of the reason we won the war.

The clueless man continued like the hushed laughter and embarrassment never occurred. "Then everyone began to join in! Some joined America's side because they were running low on oil as well, some had alliances, and some joined because they hated someone on ours!" He added three others to America's side, one with a curl flipping out of his head, another with a sword, and the last one with a big curly hair coming out of the top of his head. "Same with England's side too but some instead joined to avoid opening their ports for oil exportation." He then drew five other stick figures: one with a scarf, one with a ponytail, one with slicked back hair, one with little lines at its chin and a rose I believe, and one with nothing whatsoever. I chuckled and whispered to France, "Nice beard and rose. It fits you well."

"Thanks England." The frog was smiling which surprised me. Did he actually _like _his picture? "It's who I am and I love it. You should start accepting those eyebrows of yours too."

"Shut up. That was meant to be an insult, you frog."

"Well it's a bad one."

I was about to angrily whisper something in my defense when China yelled, "Why do I look like a girl?!"

Spain clueless-ly looked at the angry Chinese woman- I mean, man. "What do you mean? I drew your ponytail over your shoulder..."

"Well, it looks girly!"

Russia rose from his seat. "Why does only China and Germany have hair?"

"C'mon guys, this is not important. Let's get back on topic," Russia sat back down, reluctantly. "Like I was saying, before we knew it, we were at war: France, China, Russia, Germany, England and I, all of us, made up the Allied Union, against America, Japan, Italy and Canada, the Quintuple Powers, our enemies. We believed in maintaining our own oil to save our homes and they believed in sharing it so they could survive."

An awkward silence filled the air. I'm pretty sure everyone was contemplating what we did during the war, what we saw, what we smelled, what we did and anything else in between. But I was thinking about what Spain said. When he put it that way, he made it sound like we were the bad guys. Which we were, I'll admit. In the good old days, if there was a world crisis, we would talk it over at a world meeting and settle things. But, it's different now. I mean, everyone was in a panic and our bosses, like I said, are crazy and do the weirdest things like cut off exportation of oil. It's not like I didn't want to help them. Maybe if we did, we wouldn't be having this meeting at all. I'd be at home nursing my hangover. Actually, I wouldn't even have a hangover. None of us would but I guess things don't turn out like you want them to.

Spain then drew a huge crooked X through the members of the Quintuple Powers, quite violently I might add. "We won the war, of course but we lost a lot from it. We had to punish them for their malicious actions and drastic tactics they used. Our bosses met with theirs who pleaded them to share the oil. They accepted but under one condition. That they were to get rid of their way of life, of government, of beliefs and join us. They were asking for them to dissolve and be added onto our homes as new land, like we did in the old days. And… they agreed."

I looked over to the frog who was wearing that same expression from last night when we talked about the war: sad. I never said I liked seeing him look so pathetic. It's actually very annoying and contagious. His expression so pathetic, I feel pathetic looking at him. I can't really understand his pain since I haven't really lost a friend before. I feel like the lone ranger in this room, the only person here who didn't lose anyone I was close to.

"Now, here we are, discussing how to divide all this land." Spain erased the board and wrote down the Quintuple Powers' members' names, each divided by a 5 inch space. "This is all the land we have acquired: the North Americas, Italy, and Japan. As you recall, we already discussed to annexation of the other countries. All that's left are the big three."

"Four. There's four left," said France. "America AND Canada."

"Canada? Oh yeah, him! Sorry! All that's left is the big _four_. So, how about we go in a circle and say which parts of land we want. Germany, why don't you start?"

He continued to look out the window. "Um, Germany? Hello?" Germany jumped in his seat and turned back to the table where all eyes were on him, a bit of red dusted on his cheeks.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I… I was distracted. What were you saying?" That shocked me even more than before. He's always so focused on meetings, everything that's said, every action, every fight, he's watching. Wow that sounded really creepy. But seriously though, he's acting so weird.

"Well," Germany turned to Spain. "We were discussing which parts of land we should annex. So, are you interested in any land?"

"Nien. I don't want any." Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. He doesn't want _any_ land? WWII he was all like, Rawr! I need all my land back! Give it back! Rawr! Now, he has a chance at getting more land and he's declining all of it. Everyone was as surprised and confused as me, especially Spain.

Spain laughed. "Ha, very funny Germany. But seriously though what do you want?"

I couldn't believe how sincere and calm he looked. "I mean it, I don't desire any land."

China then asked from across the table, "Why don't you? My boss has been telling me that more land means more power aru. Don't you want to be powerful?"

"Well, my boss tells me that imperialism will only bring peril!" He said a little forcibly. "It's not like I don't want to get stronger, I do and that's why I'm not asking for anything."

Everyone responded with a loud huh?

Germany sighed as though he was talking to mere children about an adult matter. "You do know only the bosses decided this, not the people. There's bound to be rebels, lots of them. They won't accept what happened and revolt, wanting to be independent again. Japan and Italy may not put up a big fight but the Americas, the Americas are treacherous. I should know. I saw the place." He saw the place? When did that happen? He never told us about taking a trip to the Americas! "I'm not in any condition to fight again, not after our last one. You may be able to but not me."

"Then why did you come here then?" Responded Spain.

"To warn you all of the dangers of annexing. I'm confident in what I'm doing because I know it's for the best for my home. It's about time you guys realize that too." Germany then sat up and headed for the door.

"Wait, the meeting isn't over yet! You can't just leave!" Exclaimed France. He just couldn't read the atmosphere could he? Germany's hand was on the handle, he didn't look back.

"I have no reason to be here. I have other things to do so I apologize." He turned the handle and exited the door leaving a cold, dead silence behind. We all continued the stare at the door, acting as though he just went out to get something but it was probably obvious by the seriousness in his voice he wasn't coming back.

I rolled my eyes. All he just said was just outrageous. I mean, annexing a poor, helpless country isn't all that bad. It benefits the country in depression and helps the imperial country get more land to rule! Everyone is happy except the rebels but that's totally different. They're just confused about what's good for their home. Most people understand and accept this, including Germany which makes that little speech he made all the more out of character for him. But I'm not surprised though. Maybe his behavior is due to that new boss he has now. Well whatever the reason, he's not himself and quite frankly, I'm starting to miss his old loud self.

"Hey China!" Spain yelled, catching everyone's attention. "What would you like to receive?"

"Oh. Well…" China ruffled through all his papers quickly and clumsily. "I-I hope to attain all of Japan."

Spain nodded. "I get it! How about you Russia?"

He smiled kindly at him. "I would like to have all the land!"

Everyone stared at him not knowing what to say, too scared to more like, but Spain didn't look the least bit scared. He was smiling like he was before and, as always, was the first to respond to Russia's strange comment. "Um… you can't have all the land, Russia."

Russia's smile disappeared and everyone practically fell out of their chairs. "Eh? Why?"

"Well, we're sharing it is why. Can you try to request something a little smaller?"

"Hm… how about Alaska? It used to be mine anyway! Might as well get it back." His smile returned and the atmosphere loosened up a bit.

"Okay! How about you, France?"

He flipped his hair like some girly movie star. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going for the land that is fitting for the great big brother France!"

"The only amount of land that'll fit you would be nothing," I mumbled. I seriously couldn't help it.

"Shut up!" France yelled angrily at me. "Anyway, I wish to have all of the Americas. That's what I want."

My eyes widened.

Spain looked unsurely at him. "Uh, I see. Well, what about you Eng-"

"You bloody frog! How could you even think of taking the Americas when I'm obviously going to get them?!"

He gave me his big brother smile again. "Well, I think it's only fair since you owned those territories before. It's big brother's turn."

"Like hell I would hand over the former world power to _you._ But," I began cracking my knuckles. "I'd love to start another war over it."

"I don't know if you should, bastard." He narrowed his eyes, still holding that smile but more devious. "The great country of France has changed a lot over the years. Make sure you're not too scared."

"Oi!" We turned to an aggravated Spaniard. "I don't expect anyone to start _any_ wars over the land we acquired, not after such an ordeal! So stop acting like children fighting over candy and we'll talk it out!" We ceased our threats and Spain's voice calmed down a bit. "Don't be dumb and start another war that really isn't needed." Spain sighed. "Anyway, it's obvious that you want the Americas, England, so I'm not going to ask again. I've separated the land according to your requests."

Spain took up the chalk again and made a chart. "Okay so China will get all of Japan." China smiled triumphantly. "I'll get all of Italy."

"Why do you want to have Italy? He was kind of a useless country y'know," I added.

"Because." I stared at him dully. What kind of answer was that? Not fitting for the leading country of the Union, that's for sure. "And Russia will have Alaska and any extra land we have left. Sounds fair so far?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and Spain smiled. "Good, now to discuss the splitting of the Americas among you two." He pointed the chalk toward me and the frog. "As you know, from new land comes new people like us and they tend to run from the people they don't feel safe around or destined to be with so I'm thinking that you both go over and see who can win over the new Americas. Is that alright?"

We both nodded though I got a weird feeling of déjà vu.

"Alright, now that the land issue is settled, I officially end this meeting!" Finally! Spain and Russia left as France and I headed out after them. I'm really surprised the pizza guy didn't come yet.

"Wait!" China said from across the table, staring straight at me and France. Darn it. I thought I was home free. "Didn't you hear Germany before? The Americas is filled with rebels aru. Even if you got the kids to like either of you, it'll be quite a struggle to keep them under control! Aren't you scared for what might happen?"

France was depressingly silent, for who knows why, and rudely left while I responded, "There's no need to. I can handle rebels no problem. I've done a great job of it in the past!"

"Yeah, right aru... Just remember what he said. Germany may be acting weird but he still knows a lot more things than we ever could."

"I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the heads up, China."

And with that, we were all free from our old meeting room.

For the time being.


	4. Chapter 4

I am walking down a long hallway with people passing me by. In my hand is a suitcase and on my back a backpack, both full of clothes, papers, and other necessities I will need. It's been a couple days since our meeting and my hangover is pretty much gone. I completely passed out as soon as I got home after the meeting. I left a message for that good-for-nothing maid as well. But as soon as I woke up, I left London on the next flight to the Americas. I know they say that you shouldn't go on a flight when you're feeling even the slightest bit under the weather but this was a chance. The frog is probably at home in bed and totally ignorant of my being here. I'll just get a head start in coaxing the kid to come with me and he will choose me. It's quite simple but when it's used at the right time, such as now, it becomes that much better. It's like a painting after the artist dies, except there isn't any dying or painting or artist whatsoever. You know what, just forget that metaphor. It was terrible. Anyway, if this plan succeeds, maybe I'll finally have the little brother I've always wanted, one that won't leave me in the dust. The frog will be so surprised when he sees that I've already won the kid over beforehand. Maybe he'll be so impressed he'll grovel at my feet for the genius plan I thought up. Okay, that's a bit of a long shot but you never know when the frog will finally see how superior I am to him.

I took out a piece of paper and read it over again. I also did a bit of research on the matter and it turns out there has been sightings of a child running around town alone in Havre, Montana. They say that the child was confirmed to be male and looked around the age of six. They say that social services have tried to catch him but he always disappears before they could. Everyone is calling him a mystery child or some people believe him to be a ghost for there was a big fire near town and many died, including some unidentified children. Ghost or not, that mystery child might just be my new little brother and I had to take a chance.

While I was distracted with the paper, I bumped into someone accidentally, spilling the man's papers all over the floor. I got down on my knees and began picking up the man's papers. I smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that! I was a little distracted there. "

"It's alright. You didn't do it on purpose," the man responded, picking up the rest. I then ceased picking up papers. That voice sounded very familiar. Actually, that blonde hair looks familiar too. Could he be…? No, that can't be him! It's totally impossible for him to be here. He's at home, recovering. I can't believe I'd be stupid enough to even be thinking he might be here. I began to calm down a bit going over how impossible it was.

It's not him.

When I finished picking up all the papers, I held them out for him. "Here's your papers." The man then turned to show his face and my reassuring thoughts suddenly disappeared as I looked at his face. It looked like his. We both froze and stared at each other for a while. Maybe it's just someone who looks like him! Yeah, that has to be it! Please don't let it be him.

"Are you by chance, France?"

"Yes," he responded. With my single sliver of hope demolished, I took all the papers I was holding and dropped them all over the frog's stupid head. He yelled at me. "And I'm guessing from your rude gesture that you are the bastard, England!"

I ignored his complaint and asked him the question on my mind. "Why the hell are you here, Frog?! I thought you were at home nursing your hangover!"

He flipped his hair. That big brother smile appeared once again. "Well, I thought that a great way to win over the kid was to come early and gain his trust without your interference. You would probably scare him away with that ugly face of yours so I came earlier despite the headache."

I gaped a bit. That plagiarizing arse stole my plan! "That's the same plan I had!" I pointed an accusing finger at him. "You. You stole my plan! I would've expected it from a jerk like you!"

"How could you accuse me of such a thing? I never even heard of your plan!" He began a huge dramatic scene you'd see in a movie. "I cannot believe how much we've drifted apart for you to believe I'd actually plagiarize!" More dramatic poses. I rolled my eyes. He's so melodramatic. While I rolled my eyes, I noticed everyone was stopping what they were doing and looking over at us with strange expressions. Noticing this, I felt totally embarrassed by the scene we were making as France continued his little act.

I whispered annoyingly to him. "Stop making a scene, would you?! We're getting a lot of stares you know!" No answer. He's too caught up in his little sappy movie moment to care. I sighed and dragged him out as everyone's eyes followed us out the automatic doors.

Damn Frog.

When we got out of the airport, I got a huge gust of cold autumn wind in my face. I shivered as I dragged the frog all the way to the bus station. I let go of his collar. He just lay there, frozen in one pose. I sat on the bench like a _normal_ person and took out a jacket. It sure is cold today. I looked around and noticed that there wasn't many people at this bus station. Everyone was piling up at the station across the street. All I had over here was a bunch of dust and a weirdo on the ground. It was weird. Not even the birds were near us. Is there something wrong with this bus station? I rested my head in my hand. No, I'm probably just being paranoid.

"Hey, mister." I brought my gaze up to see a little girl's face extremely close to mine. I jumped back.

"Oh, hi there," I said, startled, observing her blonde ponytails. They were extremely long, kind of like those anime characters Japan showed me. She had a cute little kitten hat too.

She licked the ice cream she had. "Are you new here?"

"Yes, I am." Well that's weird. "How could you tell?"

Lick. Lick. "Because everyone is staring at you and that you're at _the station_." She said it with a not-so-frightening scary voice and wiggled her free hand for effect. Her ice cream dripped on her dress.

"What's wrong with this station?" She shook her head disapprovingly. I half smiled. "Okay, what's wrong with _the station_?" I mimicked her motions; she gave me a thumbs up.

She took a big breath. "_The station _heads out of the city and into the outskirts of town. Nobody takes the route anymore because there's a monster there!" Lick. Lick. Drip. "There was a huge train crash there and the conductor died. But it wasn't a regular crash. A couple of passengers said that something stopped the whole thing and lifted it with ease. The monster then threw it into the trees and left. Everyone was too scared to actually look out the window though but it scared everyone silly!" Double drip. "No one takes any public transportation out there and nobody goes at night! I've always wanted to leave here but it's really scary trying so I can't." She excessively began licking her ice cream.

It took a while to understand what she said. She can speak really fast! "It's probably just a dumb horror story created by some teenagers to scare you kids. It's not real," I said, reassuringly.

"That's what all the visitors say but it's all true. Some of them went to look for the monster but never came back." She smiled; Chills went down my back. "But you don't have to listen to me. I'm just a kid after all!" She laughed and ran down the street.

The story's fake. I'm sure of that. Here in America they have such a low IQ these days that everyone starts believing in stupid horror stories like that one. It's completely asinine. Yet as I watched her go, I couldn't forget that smile she had. It was somehow eerie kind of like how Russia's smile is. Creepy…

I stared down. The frog fell asleep. Feeling just about fed up with his nonsense, I kicked him and he instantly woke up. He stood. "Why did you kick me?!"

"Because sleeping on the sidewalk indicates you're a homeless man. I was saving your reputation."

"I wasn't sleeping! I was continuing my wonderful pose when a pair of feet just come out of nowhere and step all over my face! I couldn't breathe and I passed out. The shoes even had gum stuck to the bottom." He wiped his face with his sweater. I laughed under my breath. I didn't notice she was standing on him but I should've thanked her.

"Well, you kind of deserve that after embarrassing us in the airport," I say.

"It wasn't embarrassing! It was expressive!"

"You really shouldn't act that way in public though. Everyone will think you're mental. Stop acting like you're in one of those stupid dramas when I'm around."

"I'm not." He dusted himself off. "I studied online that American girls really like guys who express themselves. I'm just testing to see if that's true!"

"I think you went overboard with that. Plus, after that display, they're going to get the wrong idea about us."

"Well, I don't know what's wrong with that~"

"You're disgusting."

"At least try to understand. It's for my blog."

"You have a blog for picking up girls," I said. Every word slower than the last.

"Around the world, not just girls!" He went into monologue mode. "The lonely men on the internet have been shut ins all their life but when they see my blog, they'll finally get out there and find a girl! The world will be all that much better! No more will people be alone for their whole life! They'll finally find that someone, somehow! Nice of me, isn't it?"

Total silence.

"France, I think they have no intention of getting a girl. I mean, if they just shut themselves in all day. Just saying."

"I'm still doing it though. It's a good pastime. I've already done most of Europe already."

As the frog went through his list of ways to pick up different girls, I watched the street, looking for the bus. Nothing yet. How long does it take for a bus to arrive? I looked over at the bus schedule. It says the next bus should be coming any minute now but I don't see a big, smelly bus coming at all. A cold gale came and went right through my jacket. I shivered. It really is cold today.

About ten minutes later, the frog is still talking, I've added a scarf to my wear, I can see my misty, white breath, and the bus is still not here. I'm starting to think it would've been faster to just walk to my destination but I've been waiting this long, it'd be a shame to let it go all to waste. I find it hilarious the frog is still talking. He's just talking to himself now. I'm starting to rethink about kicking him awake. He seems idiotic and crazy enough to be a homeless man. Not one of those homicidal ones but one of those crazy ones that follow you after being given money. Maybe he could be one of those that talk to themselves and beg for money in the middle of the street. I can see it now: The frog in rags and groveling at my feet for money. Ha ha ha ha!

I seem be very fond of the word grovel today.

I looked up from the ground to check if it was here yet to see a big, stinky green bus coming down the street. Finally it's here. I stood up and the bus went around the loop, stopping in front of us with a loud screech.

As much as I didn't want to, I had to do this, for the sake of fairness.

"Hey." France stopped his eternal explanation. "From now on, we have to promise not to cheat anymore. We need to do this fair and square. We'll have to… work together to find him and then see who he likes the most."

"Says the person who was cheating in the first place."

"Shut up, you did too!"

"Are you two getting on or what?" Came the voice of the bus driver behind us.

I held out my hand. "Let's shake on it. It'll just be till we find him." He slowly began taking his hand out. I could feel mine being pushed away by some unknown force. It's like our hands were opposite magnets. Finally, our hands met and we shook, pulling our hands back as quickly as we could.

"There," I said. "That wasn't… so bad."

"Oui..."

He boarded the bus and I followed behind him, the door closing behind us.

"2 dollars please," a large woman with a bus hat told me. She said it grumpily like one of those cafeteria ladies in school.

"Oh, certainly." I searched my pockets for my wallet. Nothing. Uh oh. I checked my other pockets. Nothing. "Um, I'm sorry miss. It seems my wallet's gone but I'll be sure to repay you-"

"As cute a face you got, I can't let you on. No money, no bus ride. Sorry."

"But-"

Suddenly, a wallet appeared before my eyes. My wallet. The frog was holding it out to me. "I think you left this."

I snatched it away. "Why the hell do you have my wallet?" I paid the woman and began walking down the aisle. The floor was sticky.

"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that you have it." He put a friendly arm over my shoulder and smiled.

"You didn't have money so you stole mine." France's smile wavered. "It's written all over your face."

He rolled his eyes over to a nearby seat. "Oh look, an open seat. Let's take it."

So he did take my money. I sighed. "What do you mean an open seat?_ All _the seats are open you idiot." I took the window seat and he sat right next to me. "And why must you sit next to me? You're annoying."

"I need to keep an eye on you. I want to ensure you don't find him first and cheat."

"I offered the truce. Why would I break it?"

"Lots of surprising things happen in life, even betrayal."

The bus began to move with a loud groan. "I wondering, how did you know that the kid would be around here?"

"Oh, I found an article on it on the internet." Oh god. "They were talking about a mystery child in the area here." Did he… "The people here say he has brown hair and looks about 6-years-old."

I narrowed my eyes. "So you stole my article too, huh?"

"Like I said, I never heard of your plan!" He crossed his arms. I looked out the window. "Why do you seem to always blame me for such horrible things?"

"Because that's just like you."

"Well, when I get the boy to be my new baby brother, you're going to be so amazed by how much of a nice person I am. I'll raise him right unlike that ex-colony of yours that started that whole war."

"He grew up so fast that I couldn't even raise him! I wasn't even there most of time so how can you convict me of being a horrible brother?"

"Why else would he leave?"

_Shut up and leave me alone, you old man! I'm going to be, independent!_ I watched all the civilization pass by, too fast to distinguish. I wanted to respond to his question but my mind held me back.

I have no idea why he left. See the problem? I can't answer a question I don't have the answer to. But maybe he was right. Maybe that was why he turned all… that.

I wonder why I adored him so.

"Um," France began behind me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, England. That was out of line. I didn't mean to-"

I turned, annoyed by his voice. His stupid face was full of pity. "What are you apologizing for, frog? I'm fine!" I took his hand off my shoulder and viewed through the window again. "He is nothing to me now, that idiot."

"Y'know, when a girl says everything is fine, it usually isn't."

"If you haven't noticed I'm not a girl." I finally distinguished a hamburger joint as the bus rushed by.

"Are you sure about that? You act a lot like one…"

"Oh shut up an' go eat some snails."

Our conversation ended after that but that sentence kept ringing in my head.

I opened my eyes to see the blackness of my backpack. I sat up and yawned. I must have fallen asleep. Outside the window was the world, totally still and very, nature-y. I'm guessing we're out of town now. All I can really see is a bunch of ripe, yellow corn. I wonder why we stopped though. I'm pretty sure the lady up front would've told us that this was the stop. As I tried to get up, I felt something holding me down. It was that frog's head on my shoulder, sleeping and smiling contently. I smirked. So he thinks he can just pull a fake sleeping on someone's shoulder scheme huh? I pushed him off the seat onto the sticky floor of the bus with a loud THUMP.

I stood up and he woke up. I grabbed his collar. "You little pervert."

"What are you talking about?! And why did you push me off the seat?!"

"Stop acting innocent! And sit still while I pound you to a pulp!"

"What did I do?!"

"Excuse me you two." I stopped mid-punch and we both looked over to the bus lady standing in the aisle. "This is as far as I go. Get off."

I let go of his collar and stood up, so did he and we walked out the bus doors. The woman took her place at the wheel again. I set my suitcase down and stared at the crop fields spreading out for miles. There weren't any houses around and every once in a while, a tree popped out of nowhere like a weed. It was like a huge sea of orange. I then studied the street sign above us and realized it wasn't our stop.

"Hey! This isn't our stop!" I said.

The woman looked over to us from behind her huge wheel. "Like I said, this is as far as I go. I'm not going any further out of town. The sun is already starting to set and I don't want to be around here at night."

"Does this have to do with the monster rumored to be around here?" She nodded. "How can you actually believe something as ridiculous as that? It's completely stupid!"

"Being stupid keeps me alive and I'm going to keep it that way. I'll drive you back but not any further." She pointed straight ahead. "If you still insist on going, just keep walking straight that way and you'll get there. It's not that long of a walk." Before I could complain some more about how stupid this all is, she closed the doors and U-turned, leaving us in the orange sea of nothing.


	5. Chapter 5

_I am so sorry. School's got me by the throat right now. Here ya go. Enjoy. ~Lizzy_

* * *

I kicked the dirt on the side of the road in anger. Leaving customers to finish the route themselves just so you could save yourself from a rumored monster shows horrible commitment to your job, and I just know I'm going to meet more people like that out here, sadly. I grabbed my suitcase and headed down the road to where she pointed to, my free hand stuffed in my jacket pocket. It's even colder out here than it was back in town!

France came to my side. "Hey, are you sure you still want to go? It sounds kind of scary you know."

"Don't tell me that you actually believe that rubbish. Wait, how do you know about it?"

"I overheard it while that rude little girl stood on my face at the bus station."

"Didn't you pass out?"

"Not until the end. But I really don't think it's a good idea to go looking for the boy now. Not because I'm scared of that little rumor. It's just because it's getting dark and really cold and I'm really tired so let's just take a bus back into town."

"That's not really an option anymore. All the buses on this route are probably too scared to come out."

France's footsteps stop. "So we're stuck out here without a ride back to town? Until tomorrow?!"

"Yes, exactly." I stopped and looked at the sun dipping itself into the horizon. At least the beauty here can distract me from the cold. The sun seems much more radiant than at home. I shaded my eyes with my hands to get a better look. "Perfect." I began taking out my things in my bag.

"Perfect for what? How can you think anything _is _perfect in this situation?! We're going to die out here!" The frog yelled. He's so loud. "Why are you unpacking?"

"I'm planning to camp out. I haven't camped out in so long so I thought it would be fun." I spread out the soon-to-be tent on the grass.

"Are you crazy?! How can you camp out here? Didn't you hear the rumors?"

I ceased spreading long enough to meet his eyes. "I thought you didn't believe in those rumors."

"Um… well~" He stuttered. "That's not the point! The point is that you're crazy and I refuse to stay out here where I could possibly get mauled by a monster- I mean, wildlife! I'm heading back to town to get a _real_ place to stay!" He stormed off in the direction from which we came before.

"You're not going to find anything for miles, frog! We're way out of the town!" He was almost out of sight already. That was quick. I didn't think he was that scared of the rumor.

He yelled back, something about stop trying to scare him which I really had no intention of doing, and he disappeared into a darkening, evening sky. I can't believe he was scared to stay out here because of a little rumor. I really hoped that he would get attacked by a grizzly bear. I think they have grizzly bears here. Maybe he'll be lucky enough to encounter one and I'll get the kid from forfeit. A man can dream.

I looked down at the spread out tent and the other objects in the kit I had. I learned to make a tent in a class they had in the newspaper. I had a lot of tent stick thingies. I forgot what they were really called. For now, let's just call them tent stick thingies, okay? I picked one up in each hand with uncertainty. I was supposed to put these in the tent slots here right? No, that doesn't look right. Maybe here? No, no that's the zipper. The temperature was dropping as I scrambled to remember how to make a tent. This may take a while.

I stood up with my mallet in hand, a triumphant smile on my lips. I stretched out my aching back. Done! Ha, I'm done! I knew I could do it! I just had to remember what they said and what to do and it only took about 30 minutes, 2 times faster than the average time it takes. But, it's expected since I _am_ the Great England!

A gaping hole in the side of the tent stared at me skeptically.

A disappointed, icy breath escaped my lungs and I dug my hand into my hair. Okay, I'll admit, it's not perfect, if you count the various tent stick thingies protruding from all over and how it sways in the wind. Not to mention the holes scattered all over it. It looks more like a porcupine with bullet holes in it then a tent. But despite those minor errors, I'm sure it'll hold. The sun isn't in my eyes anymore, though it was practically the whole time I was setting the porcupine tent up. It really bothered my eyes the whole time and I couldn't assemble it right! I blame the sun for my failure. Stupid sun.

I brought my gaze toward the direction France stormed off in. The frog didn't come crawling back like I expected him to. I really wish he stayed at least till I finished setting up the tent. He would've made a great sun blocker. I guess he really was serious about walking for miles back to town. Or something bad happened to him and he could make it back or to town.

…

I'm pretty sure he made it. He's not dumb enough to be attacked and mauled by bears.

Though…

Whatever, I shouldn't be worrying about that right now. Right now I should be worried about the sun disappearing. I crawled into the tent and got into my sleeping bag, my head peeking out from the entrance. I shivered.

Maybe it would've been better if I had gone with the frog because quite frankly, this is a disaster: my eyes won't shut, the tent is shifty at best, the cold winds are blowing through my sleeping bag like water going down a drain, and the tent is poking me at all sides and for the ones that aren't, they are ordered to attack as soon as I move a single muscle. I was expecting this to be the most wonderful and tranquil experience of all my camping trips, but it only made 3rd place on the list. The first one was way back in WWII when the Allies and I gathered around that campfire. America didn't seem to like it all that much though… Well, nothing I do impresses that idiot anyway.

I thought of what could've happened if I went with the frog. We'd either reach a hotel or get mauled by a bear… I imagined the bloody corpses of the frog and I up in a tree, a crowd gathered at the bottom. I quickly shook my head and the horrifying image disappeared. I need to stop watching those graphic horror movies. I then thought of the other possibility. I'd have a nice cushy bed, a TV, and room service any time I desired. The walls would have wall lamps and the floor would be fuzzy. I'd jump onto the bed and contently smile. I'd then grab a nice snack from the mini bar and watch The Marigold, a movie that came out recently. My stomach growled loudly. I really shouldn't be talking about food when I don't even have any to eat. I'm uncomfortable enough. I don't need to add another negative factor to this situation.

I stared up at those stars gazing back at me. This was the part of camping I loved the most. It wasn't the marshmallows or having fun with my friends; it was the stars. They were so beautiful to look at so how could I not? Because of that, I had a habit of leaving my head out of the tent. Also because there's no room in the said tent. The beautiful stars to gaze upon mixed with the sounds of night made my eyes grow heavy. Okay, I guess this trip isn't _too_ bad. At least the sun hasn't risen yet. The stars begin disappearing one by one as sleep took hold of me.

A rustle in the bushes took me out of my tranquil moment and for my eyes to snap open. I instinctively sat up, greeted by a few poking pains in my side. I winced and scanned the perimeter.

Nothing.

I lowered back slowly into my sleeping bag, keeping a watchful eye. What am I getting so jittery about? It's probably just a rabbit or whatever small animals they have here. I flipped over on my side and another rustle caused me to pull the sleeping bag over my head. Ha ha… like I said a small animal.

The rustling got louder.

Okay this is getting ridiculous. I'm prove this once and for all! I cautiously peeked out from my sleeping bag to check then crawled out from the tent. I'm exposed but I told myself it's okay for there isn't _anything out here worth my time_! I checked all around me as I stood in the middle of a deserted sea of night. All I can see is blackness.

I told myself it was nothing! Relieved, I turned back toward the tent.

There it was. The thing that made the noise. My eyes widened and my heart beat quickened.

Its white complexion showed brightly through the blackness of the night as though the sun had risen already. The tail was curled and wild. The expression angry, wrinkled, teeth bared and threatening bright blue eyes. My old canteen that was in my backpack lay next to it, chewed to pieces. I could tell right away what it was.

It was a wolf; A big one at that, capable of chewing through metal with ease and paws the size of a softball's circumference.

I continued to stare at the wolf's furious expression. I screamed at myself in my head to move but I couldn't. It was as though as soon as I stared into those blue eyes, I could no longer control myself. I was under the wolf's control and not my own. I couldn't even scream for help though it would be useless given where I am. My sight was being clouding with fear and I couldn't think or do anything to avoid what will happen next. Then the wolf pounced as my sight filled with the darkness of the wolf's mouth.

Right when the wolf did, I was finally able to scream and I did.

I screamed loudly for help.

I found myself in my tent with the sun's rays shining in through the fabric. My forehead was sweaty and my hands were shaking. I sat up and tried to calm myself. It was just a dream, thank god. I thought I was done for. But what was that? It felt so real: the low, threatening growl, the inability to move. The image of the wolf's eyes on me flashed into my mind. I can't get that wolf's fury out of my mind. I wonder why it was so angry? Well, it was a dream so it probably means nothing. I crawled out from my tent to pack up my things.

That's when I saw a tall, extravagant hotel towering over me across the road. My mouth dropped as I observed the beauteous architecture, the blue-tinted windows, the height of it. It was magnificent and unbelievable! I felt inspired just looking at it. Whoever did the building has a lot of talent and money. I continued packing up thinking of the building. It's hard to explain it but I could stare at it all day but of course I don't have time for that. It's still very-

Wait a minute…

I raised my head from packing and turned back to the building. My eyes grew and I bellowed out of fury, "HOW THE HELL DID THIS GET HERE?!"

Was this here and I didn't even notice? Then that means that I slept out in the cold and had a horrible nightmare for nothing! I'm so dumb!

"Oi!" Pulling out of my little tantrum, I looked up to see the frog in stripped pajamas, yawning. "Some people are trying to sleep here! Stop screaming so early in the morning!"

I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was seeing right. Is this another dream? "Frog? What the-"

"Oh it's England!" He smiled and waved at me. "Good morning, England! How did you sleep?"

"Good morning my arse!" I snapped. I walked to the bottom of his balcony. "When did this hotel get here? How did you get back here? I thought you went to town!"

"I did! I went back and talked to a nice woman at the counter of a hotel. We talked for a while and I complained about there being no places to stay out here. She agreed how inconvenient it was and so I helped draw up a building plan and asked some workers to help build it and here it is: The Roadside Hotel!" He presented his hands over to the front where the letters were printed in fancy writing.

"That's a terrible name! Plus, why didn't you tell me about it?!" He shushed me. "Don't shush me!"

He shushed me again. "Keep it down! Some people are still trying to sleep, y'know."

"It was built only yesterday! You're the only guest there!"

He smiled at me again. "It was actually built today at 1:00AM."

"Whatever! Why didn't you tell me about it?"

He rested his stupid face on his stupid hand, resting on the stupid balcony rails. "Give me some slack. It was finished at 3AM. I need my beauty rest."

"I was right across the street."

"_Plus,_" He cut me off. "You seemed so excited and dead set on camping out; I didn't want to ruin your fun with a hotel. Besides, you looked so happy sleeping there!"

"I had anything but a great time! I have bruises all over from the stick thingies."

"The stick thingies?"

"The stick-like things you use to hold up a tent." I sneezed and the frog blessed me. "I also think I caught a cold."

"Aw, poor England. Here's a blanket." He threw a blanket from the rails. "That should keep you warm tonight"

The blanket covered me in beige fluffiness. I pulled it off. "Wait, tonight? You're not going to let me stay?"

"Of course not!"

"So you're just going to let me freeze out here?" He nodded. "What if I paid?"

The frog laughed and told me shrewdly, "You don't have money. I should know since I took your wallet yesterday."

"You're such a jerk you know that?! Well fine, I don't need your damn hotel! I'll just stay out here!" The tent collapsed and the frog laughed. My face grew hot. The tent could've collapsed at _any_ time but no, it had to collapse right now.

The frog yelled at me. "I'll be right down so we can go find the kid alright? I just need to recover from that ridiculously hilarious tent."

I scowled at him as he disappeared into his room. I angrily began packing everything up, muttering curses. I'll rebuild it later.

It's another cold day so I decided to wear my coat. A big gust of wind blew through and the sea of orange raged all around me. It took only 30 minutes for me to pack up which was the same amount of time it took the frog to "get ready". He takes longer than a girl does to get ready. What the hell was he doing? I sighed a foggy breath as the frog came up to me.

"It's about time," I said.

"I was just giving you time to pack up." Liar.

"Whatever, let's just go already."

We walked down the dirt road with the sun in the cloudy blue sky. At least the clouds were blocking out the sun. I'd hate to search for my new little brother at the mercy of the sun's rays. We made small talk whilst searching the expanse for a small child. What annoyed me was how the frog did it so painstakingly obvious. Every time he'd strike up a conversation and every time he would turn his head away to search during my turn to speak.

After the third time, I had enough. I ceased walking and pointed in a random direction. "Oh look, I think I see something."

He pivoted and ran to my side, practically knocking me over. He turned his head this way and that like a dog searching for a stick. "Really? Really? Where? I don't see anything! Tell me where!"

"Wait... I think." He leaned in closer. "It's... nothing." My feet went back into its earlier motion down the road. I giggled under my breath.

The frog angrily followed. "Don't do that! Get serious would you?"

"I don't need to because the kid is going to choose me for certain."

"And why is that?" He growled.

"Because it already happened before and I'm totally certain it'll happen once again so stop acting like a paranoid freak and just accept it. You know I'm going to win him over. You cannot change fate no matter how persuading you are."

"Ha! As if. I'm going to win him over and when I do, you'll be crying in a corner!" He then broke into a run down the path. I guess he didn't understand the meaning of a _fair _competition. When I was about to run down the path after him, he fell flat on his face with a dirt explosion.

I half walked half ran to his position. "Are you alright?"

He lifted his face off the ground to give me a glare. "I hate you."

"Is that all? C'mon, get up and let's go." I lent him my hand and the frog reluctantly grabbed it.

It's about 1:00PM when we reach a small diner on the side of the road. My legs have turned to jelly and my stomach growled, begging for something to eat. Same with the frog. So as soon as we saw the place, we entered in on the spot. A gale of heat brushed my cheeks when we entered.

A plump woman in a dirty apron welcomed us as we took a seat at the bar. I looked up at the overhead menu, my eyes hastily searching the menu. Then I found what I was searching for and I gazed at it for a while longer: ale. I couldn't believe it. They actually have ale! I smiled a smile of desire. I never would've thought a road side diner would have it. I studied the word, said it aloud just to feel it roll over my tongue. I haven't had an ale since forever! Well, not forever, just ever since that celebration of the end of WWIII but it felt like forever!

"England."

I stared at the word longer. I could just imagine it: That burning in my throat, the delicious taste over my taste buds. It's too much to bear. I hope they have the good kind.

"England!"

I heard a loud snap in my ear and blinked a couple of times. The frog was staring at me with a knowing look on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I spaced out a little there," I apologized. "Are we ordering now?"

"England, I know that look in your eye. I cannot let you drink while we're out here."

My heart dropped, shattered. I smiled. "Oh yeah, right. Okay. That's totally fine! I wasn't planning on getting any ale anyway. I was planning to get the um," I randomly picked out a choice on the menu. "The cheese fries?"

"The cheese fries? I thought you hated cheese fries," he said, an eyebrow raised and a countenance of suspicion.

If I changed my mind now, he'd know and say I told you so. I cannot live with that! I had to stay by my word. Why did I have to pick that? "No, I actually love cheese fries." It took a lot longer than it should have to say those six words.

The frog turned to the woman from before at the counter. "Okay so we'd like an order of cheese fries, please."

"Coming right up, honey," she said.

I slowly and reluctantly put the last fry covered with cheese into my mouth. I got through the whole thing by telling myself it was for my pride. My goddamn pride. I couldn't let the frog win, ever. Defeated and nauseous, I rested my head on the counter. My stomach was in so much pain you don't even know. I groaned.

"Are you okay, sir? You don't look too good," asked the woman, taking the plate away.

"He's alright; he can get through anything." I could hear the amusement in his voice. Jerk. "Hey, do you mind if I ask you something, beautiful?"

The woman's face turned a shade of red and giggled. "Sure, what would you like to know?"

"We're looking for the monster that is rumored to be around here. Do you have any idea where it would be?"

"Hm, well there have been sightings of something out by the pasture north of here but other than that I have no idea.

Hearing this, I raised my head. My excitement overpowering my nausea. The frog stood up, his chair screeching on the floor. "Really? Thank you!"

"I'm guessing you two are here to see the thing huh?" We both nodded. "That's mighty brave of you. But be careful, nobody has found it and if they have, they were never heard of again."

"We'll be alright." The frog grabbed my arm and put down an American 5 dollar bill. "Keep the change for the information. Thanks again." And with that, I was pulled out the door and dropped in the dirty road.

He stood there looking at my lifeless form on the ground. "I'm not going to pull you all the way there, you know."

So much for a free ride to the pasture. I sighed and got to my feet. My stomach grumbled. "Ugh, fine. Let's go."

The frog held me back and smiled at me, deviously. "The deal is off now."

"What?"

"The deal is off. We both know where the 'monster' is so it's every man for himself now. Remember?"

Realization hit me. He was right. The deal's off now that we know where he is. I also realized what he did. "You planned this didn't you? To fill me up on cheese fries."

"No, I didn't. You did that all yourself but it's a big advantage for me!" I scowled at him. "Race you there!" He ran down the road heading north.

"Hey!" I yelled. I'm such an idiot. I guess it shows you that it's better to not pick your pride over being wrong. Despite the butterflies, I ran after him.

I can tell this isn't going to end well.

It didn't end too well.

I lost my lunch halfway through but after that I felt a lot better so I guess it was a win. By the time I reached the frog, he was laying in the pasture's grass trying to catch his breath.

I fell back on my behind to catch my breath too. Needles from the freezing air poked and scratched at my throat and my icy breath swirled into the air. I looked behind to see that the diner is long gone. How long did we run? I looked over to the frog.

"Hey, you frog. That was dirty you know," I said, breathing heavily between each word.

"I know but there isn't any truce now so, yeah." He was as exhausted as I was.

"It's a little ironic, this situation. We're at the pasture but we both don't have any energy to search it at the moment."

"Yeah, it is isn't it?" He laughed. "But I'll be ready any minute now and you'll still be catching your breath."

"Not if I decide to search now!" I lifted myself up and somehow fell back on my butt. I tried again to no avail. I groaned. I can't get up.

"You shouldn't overexert your body, England."

"Oh shut up."

How long does it take for the average man to regain their strength? I sighed and stared up at the sky still peppered with clouds. If I could be anything, I'd like to be a cloud. There are so many gains to being a cloud: the power to fly, shape into anything I want, control the weather, the list goes on and on. I know that with our modern-day technology we can fly in machines but being a cloud somehow feels better.

I turned to the frog. He turned his back to me. I wonder why he'd do that. I crawled on wobbly arms and legs just enough to peek over his shoulder. What I saw shocked me. He had a glass full of wine in his hand and a wine bottle securely placed in the ground. He sipped from it joyously.

"France," I said quietly but loud enough for him to hear. The frog turned and sipped from that sparkling glass. "What the bloody hell is that?"

"It's wine."

I hated how plainly he said it. "So you can drink wine but I cannot drink ale. That isn't fair!"

"I never said _I_ couldn't drink anything. I just said you can't."

"Why not you too?!"

France finished the rest of his drink. "Because I haven't been able to drink since that celebration party. I'd go crazy if I didn't have any soon."

"Me either!"

"Really?" He stumbled a bit. "Well... you never should've listened to me!"

"Give me the wine now." I outstretched my hand. "After all, _I cannot let you drink while we're out here_." I quoted his earlier words with disgust.

"_Non!_ I won't let you!" He darted randomly into the pasture with his wine bottle in his hand. He really likes running off doesn't he?

"It's useless, you frog! Get back here!" I tried to get up but I already found myself on my two feet and running after his golden locks.

That frog can really run. But that's expected since he _is_ the country of failure and running away. My rage and the betrayal I felt gave me energy that was only a few minutes ago depleted. While I chase the frog, I'll describe the scenery to you.

The pasture was a wide expanse of green grass and at the edges of it were groves of evergreens. The sparkling, gargantuan pond was in the western part of the pasture, a deep hue of blue that I was extremely tempted to jump into. In terms of lumpiness, the ground would be really up there. There were a lot of holes and lumps as though someone was digging around for buried treasure without a map. In the distance, a tall mountain towers over the pond with the sun edging ever closer to its snowy summit.

Montana is very beautiful. Extremely beautiful. I'll have to gaze upon it again later after I've dealt with this frog.

France stops suddenly and I take the chance to grab the wine out of his hand. I breathed heavily.

"There! Was that so hard?! Why do you even like this stuff? It tastes terrible!" He didn't respond; he just kept staring straight ahead. That's weird. I expected him to explode in fury and then beg for me to return it. Now that I think about it, it was a little weird how he just stopped running altogether. I waved my hand in front of his face. "Hey, are you okay frog?"

Then I brought my gaze over to where he was staring. I froze.

There he was.

The child we've been looking for.

The new America stared at us with a smile on his face. "Hello, my name is Rebnia. What's yours?"

My vocal chords were tied. I couldn't speak. It wasn't really because of the sudden encounter; it was how the boy looked.

His hair was the same color of blonde and hairstyle America had but the ends were wavy much like what's-his-name. He also had that Nantucket cowlick with a single curled hair wrapped around it. He was about half my size and looked so innocent. It's hard to believe he and his people were responsible for so many horrible things before. A reborn America and he's cuter than ever. But what bothered me was that he didn't look the least bit scared. Usually, they would be scared but Rebnia isn't like that. He told us his name with hesitation!

He was still awaiting our answers. A gust of wind came through. I stared. I couldn't shake this weird feeling of Déjà vu. Like I have done something similar to this before. But it disappeared when I realized the frog was speaking.

"I'm France, you're new brother." I stepped on his foot and he held back a scream. The boy stared curiously at us.

"Ignore him. He's wrong. My name is England and I'm your new brother."

France spat back. "Stop confusing the poor kid!" He knelt down to his height and smiled. "We're both you're new brothers but I'm going to be taking care of you is all."

I jammed in. "Actually, I am."

"Oh come on England! He has Canada's cute little curl and the beautiful wavy hair he and I shared! He's mine to care for."

We stood and pushed each other. "Well, he has America's cowlick and his adorableness! He's more mine than yours!"

"Rebnia!"

We ceased our fighting to see a woman with a long, blonde braid going down her back holding her dress and running toward us.

"Hi, mommy!"

Mommy?

She picked him up and hugged him affectionately. "I see you've made new friends. Hello, I'm Lavie and this is my son, Rebnia."

Lavie? That's not a country name.

"I've never seen you two before. Your new here aren't you? Welcome to Montana!" She said excitedly with Rebnia on her shoulders. "I'm sorry but I only came here to bring Rebnia home for dinner"

"But I want to talk to the funny men," Rebnia whined.

"You can talk to them some other time alright? But now we gotta go home okay? If you'll excuse us." She walked off with our little brother on her shoulders.

When she disappeared in the trees, I asked, "Hey frog?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know a country named Lavie?"

"No, how about you?"

"No."

The frog and I stared at each other and back to where they disappeared in the trees. It finally occurred to me what that was. He's already being taken care of by a woman named Lavie.

A woman who isn't one of us.


End file.
